Appointment As Principal
Ong was appointed Principal of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in 1994 when his predecessor, Lawrence Chia, stepped down after six years. Ong's appointment was initially controversial, as he was a former student of Raffles Institution, a rival school.
During his tenure as principal, ACS(I) gained the Singapore Quality Award and the Singapore Quality Class in recognition of administrative and educational excellence. Singapore Quality Class (SQC) is the certification for the overall business excellence standard, and the Singapore Quality Award (SQA) is conferred on organisations that demonstrate the highest standards of business excellence. The school received many other awards, such as the School Excellence Award (an award for academic excellence), the School Distinction Award, the Best Practice Awards and many awards at the Odyssey of the Mind (OM) World Finals. Ong also serves as the Odyssey of the Mind Singapore Tournament Director.
Ong was initially the Vice-Principal for pastoral care in the school. This is currently a core component of the school's curriculum. Ong introduced the practice of naming classes after biblical heroes, books or cities in 1997, as well as the practice of dedicating each academic year to an inspirational theme from the Bible.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme was introduced during his tenure. The school was the first in the Singapore education system to implement the programme. This was a significant step in the reform of Singaporean education system, which had been cited by critics as being too harsh and rigid in its regimen, not to mention its examination-centric approach towards achieving academic excellence.
Ong maintained the school's reputation for strict discipline. He has said:
"We have corporal punishment for serious offences. If parents disagree, then they should not have put their child in this school".
The Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) publicity material for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme additionally emphasises that IB students guilty of serious violations of academic dishonesty, if male, may be caned.
Read more about this topic: Ong Teck Chin
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